Greater Memphis school merger panel to hold town hall meetings

School merger panel hosts meetings to address concerns

The commission that has been crafting the plan for the merger of Memphis and Shelby County schools will continue fielding questions, gathering comments, quelling rumors and doing what it can to soothe anxious school patrons and school district employees in a series of town hall meetings this week.

Jim Boyd, co-chairman of the Transition Planning Commission's Community Engagement and Communications Committee, said the meetings in Germantown and Memphis are a continuation of a process that began when members went on an extensive "listening tour" around the county in the spring.

The commission approved a first draft of its plan June 14, presented it to the unified school board June 26 and to Tennessee Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman two days later, inviting their comments for possible amendments later this month.

"There's still time between now and the end of this month to make changes, depending on the input we receive from the school board and the commissioner and the community," Boyd said.

Public meetings held so far have also given employees a chance to weigh in about their concerns with the 200-plus-page document's 172 recommendations.

The Memphis Education Association is responding to the plan with a 32-page PowerPoint presentation handed out to media and school board members, contending that the TPC has strayed from its mission with its privatization, charter school authorization and school-closing proposals.

"They have made all kinds of recommendations that speak to more than combining two school systems," said Keith Williams, MEA president.

The organization also has made a number of endorsements in upcoming races for the school board, which has the authority to adopt the plan in its entirely or to amend it as a majority of its members see fit.

Chad Johnson, executive director of AFSCME Local 1733, said the local also has addressed the TPC plan's provisions in meetings with members of the clergy, including the Baptist Ministerial Association, and has been working toward endorsements in school board elections scheduled for Aug. 2.

Hints that the TPC may continue to play a role in the merger beyond its submission of a merger plan — a role that was not called for in the Norris-Todd school consolidation legislation — also remains a point of contention, Johnson said.

"They're an appointed body. No one there is elected," he said. "They have no constituency."

Meanwhile, however, the TPC will continue to collect the public's thoughts on the consolidation plan, available on the organization's website, ourvoiceourschools.org.